Core network device, access network device, and data offloading method and system

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a core network device, an access network device, and a data offloading method and system, and relate to the field of mobile communications. In the system, the access network device receives an offloading inclination indication of service data from the core network device; the access network device allocates, according to the offloading inclination indication, a transmission resource used for transmitting the service data; and the access network device transmits the service data by using the allocated transmission resource. In the present disclosure, quality of service (QoS) in the transmission process can be ensured even if data is offloaded by using a first resource such as an unlicensed spectrum, a transmission resource provided by Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), or a transmission resource provided by the secondary eNodeB.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/213,894, filed on Jul. 19, 2016, which is a continuation ofInternational Application No. PCT/CN2014/070930, filed on Jan. 20, 2014,All of the afore-mentioned patent applications are hereby incorporatedby reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the field of mobile communications,and in particular, to a core network device, an access network device,and a data offloading method and system.

BACKGROUND

A data offloading technology is a technology that service data istransmitted according to at least two transmission paths. The at leasttwo transmission paths may be established by using differenttransmission resources or transmission networks of different standards.

An example in which service data is transmitted between an accessnetwork device and a terminal is used. Offloading transmission may beimplemented on service data of a same service by using a licensedspectrum and an unlicensed spectrum, where the unlicensed spectrum isalso referred to as a common spectrum, and any organization or personmay use a current idle spectrum in the common spectrum by following aparticular rule. Alternatively, offloading transmission may beimplemented on service data of a same service by using a transmissionresource provided by a base station and a transmission resource providedby a WLAN (Wireless Local Area Networks). Alternatively, offloadingtransmission may be implemented on service data of a same service byusing a transmission resource provided by a primary eNodeB and atransmission resource provided by a secondary eNodeB.

In a process of implementing embodiments of the present disclosure, theinventor finds that the foregoing technology has at least the followingproblem: because the unlicensed spectrum exists dynamically, anddeployment of the WLAN and the secondary eNodeB may be discontinuous,QoS (Quality of Service) in a transmission process cannot be ensuredwhen data is offloaded by using the unlicensed spectrum, the WLAN, orthe secondary eNodeB.

SUMMARY

To resolve a problem that QoS in a transmission process cannot beensured when data is offloaded by using an unlicensed spectrum, a WLAN,or a secondary eNodeB, embodiments of the present disclosure provide acore network device, an access network device, and a data offloadingmethod and system. The technical solutions are as follows:

According to a first aspect, an access network device is provided, wherethe device includes:

an indication receiving module, configured to receive an offloadinginclination indication of service data, where the offloading inclinationindication is used to indicate a scheduling inclination of the servicedata on a first resource, and the first resource includes a Long TermEvolution LTE carrier in an unlicensed spectrum, a transmission resourceprovided by a wireless local area network WLAN, or a transmissionresource provided by a secondary eNodeB;

a resource allocation module, configured to allocate, according to theoffloading inclination indication, a transmission resource used fortransmitting the service data; and

a data transmission module, configured to transmit the service data byusing the allocated transmission resource.

In a first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, theoffloading inclination indication includes:

prohibiting scheduling on the first resource; or

allowing scheduling on the first resource; or

preferably performing scheduling on the first resource; or

preferably performing scheduling on a non-first resource.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in a second possible implementation manner,

the resource allocation module is configured to: when the offloadinginclination indication is used to instruct to prohibit scheduling on thefirst resource, allocate a transmission resource that belongs to thenon-first resource to the service data; or

the resource allocation module is configured to: when the offloadinginclination indication is used to instruct to preferably performscheduling on the first resource, preferably allocate a transmissionresource that belongs to the first resource to the service data; or

the resource allocation module is configured to: when the offloadinginclination indication is used to instruct to allow scheduling on thefirst resource, and the first resource is available, allocate atransmission resource that belongs to the first resource to the servicedata; or

the resource allocation module is configured to: when the offloadinginclination indication is used to instruct to preferably performscheduling on the non-first resource, preferably allocate a transmissionresource that belongs to the non-first resource to the service data.

With reference to the second possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in a third possible implementation manner, the data transmissionmodule includes a first transmission unit, a second transmission unit, athird transmission unit, and a fourth transmission unit, where

the first transmission unit is configured to: when the transmissionresource allocated to the service data includes the transmissionresource that belongs to the non-first resource, send, by using an LTEcarrier in a licensed spectrum, data corresponding to the transmissionresource that belongs to the non-first resource in the service data to aterminal;

the second transmission unit is configured to: when the transmissionresource allocated to the service data includes the transmissionresource that belongs to the first resource, and the first resource isthe LTE carrier in the unlicensed spectrum, send, by using the LTEcarrier in the unlicensed spectrum, data corresponding to thetransmission resource that belongs to the first resource in the servicedata to a terminal;

the third transmission unit is configured to: when the transmissionresource allocated to the service data includes the transmissionresource that belongs to the first resource, and the first resource isthe transmission resource provided by the WLAN, send data correspondingto the transmission resource that belongs to the first resource in theservice data to a wireless access point of the WLAN, so that thewireless access point forwards the data to a terminal; or

the fourth transmission unit is configured to: when the transmissionresource allocated to the service data includes the transmissionresource that belongs to the first resource, and the first resource isthe transmission resource provided by the secondary eNodeB, instruct thesecondary eNodeB to establish a bearer between the secondary eNodeB anda terminal, and send data corresponding to the transmission resourcethat belongs to the first resource in the service data to the secondaryeNodeB, so that the secondary eNodeB forwards the data to the terminalby using the established bearer.

With reference to the first aspect, or the first or the second or thethird possible implementation manner, in a fourth possibleimplementation manner, the indication receiving module is configured toreceive the offloading inclination indication sent by a core networkdevice; or the indication receiving module is configured to receive theoffloading inclination indication forwarded by a core network device byusing a primary eNodeB; or the indication receiving module is configuredto receive the offloading inclination indication sent by a primaryeNodeB, where the offloading inclination indication is generated by theprimary eNodeB according to QoS information of the service data afterthe primary eNodeB receives the QoS information that is of the servicedata and is sent by a core network device.

With reference to the first aspect, or the first or the second or thethird possible implementation manner, in a fifth possible implementationmanner, if the service data further includes uplink service data, thedevice further includes an uplink indication module, where

the uplink indication module is configured to send the offloadinginclination indication to a terminal, so that the terminal determines,according to the offloading inclination indication, a transmissionresource used for transmitting the uplink service data; or

the uplink indication module is configured to send an uplink offloadinginclination indication in the offloading inclination indication to aterminal, so that the terminal determines, according to the uplinkoffloading inclination indication, a transmission resource used fortransmitting the uplink service data.

With reference to the first aspect, or the first or the second or thethird possible implementation manner, in a sixth possible implementationmanner, the device further includes a traffic statistics collectionmodule and a traffic reporting module, where

the traffic statistics collection module is configured to collecttraffic statistics information respectively corresponding to thetransmission resource that is used for transmitting the service data andbelongs to the first resource and/or the transmission resource that isused for transmitting the service data and belongs to the non-firstresource; and

the traffic reporting module is configured to report the trafficstatistics information to a core network device.

With reference to the first aspect, or the first or the second or thethird possible implementation manner, in a seventh possibleimplementation manner, the offloading inclination indication is carriedby using a specific QoS class identifier QCI value.

According to a second aspect, a core network device is provided, wherethe device includes:

an indication determining module, configured to determine an offloadinginclination indication of service data, where the offloading inclinationindication is used to indicate a scheduling inclination of the servicedata on a first resource, and the first resource includes a Long TermEvolution LTE carrier in an unlicensed spectrum, a transmission resourceprovided by a wireless local area network WLAN, or a transmissionresource provided by a secondary eNodeB; and

an indication sending module, configured to send the offloadinginclination indication of the service data to an access network device,so that the access network device allocates, according to the offloadinginclination indication, a transmission resource used for transmittingthe service data, and transmits the service data by using the allocatedtransmission resource.

In a first possible implementation manner of the second aspect, theindication determining module includes an information acquiring unit andan indication generation unit, where

the information acquiring unit is configured to acquire QoS informationof the service data; and

the indication generation unit is configured to generate the offloadinginclination indication of the service data according to the QoSinformation.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the secondaspect, in a second possible implementation manner, the indicationgeneration unit includes:

a first generation subunit, a second generation subunit, a thirdgeneration subunit, and a fourth generation subunit, where

the first generation subunit is configured to: when the QoS informationincludes an aggregate maximum bit rate AMBR, an allocation/retentionpriority ARP, and a QoS class identifier QCI, if a rate indicated by theAMBR is greater than a first threshold, a priority indicated by the ARPis less than a first priority, and a delay indicated by the QCI isgreater than a second threshold, generate an offloading inclinationindication used to instruct to preferably perform scheduling on thefirst resource;

the second generation subunit is configured to: when the QoS informationincludes a guaranteed bit rate GBR, generate an offloading inclinationindication used to instruct to prohibit scheduling on the firstresource;

the third generation subunit is configured to: when the QoS informationdoes not include the GBR, generate an offloading inclination indicationused to instruct to allow scheduling on the first resource; or

the fourth generation subunit is configured to: when the QoS informationdoes not include the GBR but includes the ARP and the QCI, if a priorityindicated by the ARP is less than a second priority and a delayindicated by the QCI is less than a third threshold, generate anoffloading inclination indication used to instruct to preferably performscheduling on a non-first resource.

With reference to the second aspect, or the first or the second possibleimplementation manner, in a third possible implementation manner,

the indication sending module is configured to send the offloadinginclination indication to a primary eNodeB; or

the indication sending module is configured to forward the offloadinginclination indication to the secondary eNodeB by using a primaryeNodeB.

With reference to the second aspect, or the first or the second possibleimplementation manner, in a fourth possible implementation manner,

the device further includes a traffic receiving module, where

the traffic receiving module is configured to receive traffic statisticsinformation fed back by the access network device, where the trafficstatistics information is fed back by the access network device aftercollecting traffic respectively corresponding to the transmissionresource that is used for transmitting the service data and belongs tothe first resource and/or the transmission resource that is used fortransmitting the service data and belongs to the non-first resource.

With reference to the fourth possible implementation manner of thesecond aspect, in a fifth possible implementation manner, when the corenetwork device is a mobility management entity MME, the device furtherincludes a traffic forwarding module, where

the traffic forwarding module is configured to send the trafficstatistics information to a charging network element, so that thecharging network element performs, according to the traffic statisticsinformation, differential charging on the transmission resource thatbelongs to the first resource and/or the transmission resource thatbelongs to the non-first resource.

With reference to the second aspect, or the first or the second possibleimplementation manner, in a sixth possible implementation manner, theoffloading inclination indication is carried by using a specific QoSclass identifier QCI value.

According to a third aspect, an access network device is provided, wherethe device includes:

an information receiving module, configured to receive QoS informationof service data;

a transmission allocation module, configured to allocate, according tothe QoS information, a transmission resource used for transmitting theservice data, where the transmission resource includes a transmissionresource that belongs to a first resource and a transmission resourcethat belongs to a non-first resource, and the first resource includes aLong Term Evolution LTE carrier in an unlicensed spectrum, atransmission resource provided by a wireless local area network WLAN, ora transmission resource provided by a secondary eNodeB; and

a data transmission module, configured to transmit the service data byusing the allocated transmission resource.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the thirdaspect, the transmission allocation module includes a first allocationunit, a second allocation unit, a third allocation unit, and a fourthallocation unit, where

the first allocation unit is configured to: when the QoS informationincludes an aggregate maximum bit rate AMBR, an allocation/retentionpriority ARP, and a QoS class identifier QCI, if a rate indicated by theAMBR is greater than a first threshold, a priority indicated by the ARPis less than a first priority, and a delay indicated by the QCI isgreater than a second threshold, preferably allocate the transmissionresource that belongs to the first resource to the service data;

the second allocation unit is configured to: when the QoS informationincludes a guaranteed bit rate GBR, allocate the transmission resourcethat belongs to the non-first resource to the service data;

the third allocation unit is configured to: when the QoS informationdoes not include the GBR, and the first resource is available, allocatethe transmission resource that belongs to the first resource to theservice data; or

the fourth allocation unit is configured to: when the QoS informationdoes not include the GBR but includes the ARP and the QCI, if a priorityindicated by the

ARP is less than a second priority and a delay indicated by the QCI isless than a third threshold, preferably allocate the transmissionresource that belongs to the non-first resource to the service data.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the thirdaspect, in a second possible implementation manner, the datatransmission module includes a first transmission unit, a secondtransmission unit, a third transmission unit, and a fourth transmissionunit, where

the first transmission unit is configured to: when the transmissionresource allocated to the service data includes the transmissionresource that belongs to the non-first resource, send, by using an LTEcarrier in a licensed spectrum, data corresponding to the transmissionresource that belongs to the non-first resource in the service data to aterminal;

the second transmission unit is configured to: when the transmissionresource allocated to the service data includes the transmissionresource that belongs to the first resource, and the first resource isthe LTE carrier in the unlicensed spectrum, send, by using the LTEcarrier in the unlicensed spectrum, data corresponding to thetransmission resource that belongs to the first resource in the servicedata to a terminal;

the third transmission unit is configured to: when the transmissionresource allocated to the service data includes the transmissionresource that belongs to the first resource, and the first resource isthe transmission resource provided by the WLAN, send data correspondingto the transmission resource that belongs to the first resource in theservice data to a wireless access point of the WLAN, so that thewireless access point forwards the data to a terminal; or

the fourth transmission unit is configured to: when the transmissionresource allocated to the service data includes the transmissionresource that belongs to the first resource, and the first resource isthe transmission resource provided by the secondary eNodeB, instruct thesecondary eNodeB to establish a bearer between the secondary eNodeB anda terminal, and send data corresponding to the transmission resourcethat belongs to the first resource in the service data to the secondaryeNodeB, so that the secondary eNodeB forwards the data to the terminalby using the established bearer.

With reference to the third aspect, or the first or the second possibleimplementation manner, in a third possible implementation manner,

the information receiving module is configured to receive the QoSinformation sent by a core network device; or

the information receiving module is configured to receive the QoSinformation forwarded by a core network device by using a primaryeNodeB.

With reference to the third aspect, or the first or the second possibleimplementation manner, in a fourth possible implementation manner, thedevice further includes a traffic statistics collection module and atraffic reporting module, where

the traffic statistics collection module is configured to collecttraffic statistics information respectively corresponding to thetransmission resource that is used for transmitting the service data andbelongs to the first resource and/or the transmission resource that isused for transmitting the service data and belongs to the non-firstresource; and

the traffic reporting module is configured to report the trafficstatistics information to a core network device.

According to a fourth aspect, a data offloading method is provided,where the method includes:

receiving an offloading inclination indication of service data, wherethe offloading inclination indication is used to indicate a schedulinginclination of the service data on a first resource, and the firstresource includes a Long Term Evolution LTE carrier in an unlicensedspectrum, a transmission resource provided by a wireless local areanetwork WLAN, or a transmission resource provided by a secondary eNodeB;

allocating, according to the offloading inclination indication, atransmission resource used for transmitting the service data; and

transmitting the service data by using the allocated transmissionresource.

In a first possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, theoffloading inclination indication includes:

prohibiting scheduling on the first resource; or

allowing scheduling on the first resource; or

preferably performing scheduling on the first resource; or

preferably performing scheduling on a non-first resource.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the fourthaspect, in a second possible implementation manner, the allocating,according to the offloading inclination indication, a transmissionresource used for transmitting the service data includes:

when the offloading inclination indication is used to instruct toprohibit scheduling on the first resource, allocating a transmissionresource that belongs to the non-first resource to the service data; or

when the offloading inclination indication is used to instruct to allowscheduling on the first resource, and when the first resource isavailable, allocating a transmission resource that belongs to the firstresource to the service data; or

when the offloading inclination indication is used to instruct topreferably perform scheduling on the first resource, preferablyallocating a transmission resource that belongs to the first resource tothe service data; or

when the offloading inclination indication is used to instruct topreferably perform scheduling on the non-first resource, preferablyallocating a transmission resource that belongs to the non-firstresource to the service data.

With reference to the second possible implementation manner of thefourth aspect, in a third possible implementation manner, thetransmitting the service data by using the allocated transmissionresource includes:

when the transmission resource allocated to the service data includesthe transmission resource that belongs to the non-first resource,sending, by using an LTE carrier in a licensed spectrum, datacorresponding to the transmission resource that belongs to the non-firstresource in the service data to a terminal;

when the transmission resource allocated to the service data includesthe transmission resource that belongs to the first resource, and thefirst resource is the LTE carrier in the unlicensed spectrum, sending,by using the LTE carrier in the unlicensed spectrum, data correspondingto the transmission resource that belongs to the first resource in theservice data to a terminal;

when the transmission resource allocated to the service data includesthe transmission resource that belongs to the first resource, and thefirst resource is the transmission resource provided by the WLAN,sending data corresponding to the transmission resource that belongs tothe first resource in the service data to a wireless access point of theWLAN, so that the wireless access point forwards the data to a terminal;or

when the transmission resource allocated to the service data includesthe transmission resource that belongs to the first resource, and thefirst resource is the transmission resource provided by the secondaryeNodeB, instructing the secondary eNodeB to establish a bearer betweenthe secondary eNodeB and a terminal, and sending data corresponding tothe transmission resource that belongs to the first resource in theservice data to the secondary eNodeB, so that the secondary eNodeBforwards the data to the terminal by using the established bearer.

With reference to the fourth aspect, or the first or the second or thethird possible implementation manner, in a fourth possibleimplementation manner, the receiving an offloading inclinationindication of service data includes:

receiving the offloading inclination indication sent by a core networkdevice; or

receiving the offloading inclination indication forwarded by a corenetwork device by using a primary eNodeB.

With reference to the fourth aspect, or the first or the second or thethird possible implementation manner, in a fifth possible implementationmanner, if the service data further includes uplink service data, afterthe receiving an offloading inclination indication of service data, themethod further includes:

sending the offloading inclination indication to a terminal, so that theterminal determines, according to the offloading inclination indication,a transmission resource used for transmitting the uplink service data;or

sending an uplink offloading inclination indication in the offloadinginclination indication to a terminal, so that the terminal determines,according to the uplink offloading inclination indication, atransmission resource used for transmitting the uplink service data.

With reference to the fourth aspect, or the first or the second or thethird possible implementation manner, in a sixth possible implementationmanner, after the transmitting the service data by using the allocatedtransmission resource, the method further includes:

collecting traffic statistics information respectively corresponding tothe transmission resource that is used for transmitting the service dataand belongs to the first resource and/or the transmission resource thatis used for transmitting the service data and belongs to the non-firstresource; and

reporting the traffic statistics information to a core network device.

With reference to the fourth aspect, or the first or the second or thethird possible implementation manner, in a seventh possibleimplementation manner, the offloading inclination indication is carriedby using a specific QoS class identifier QCI value.

According to a fifth aspect, a data offloading method is provided, wherethe method includes:

determining an offloading inclination indication of service data, wherethe offloading inclination indication is used to indicate a schedulinginclination of the service data on a first resource, and the firstresource includes a Long Term Evolution LTE carrier in an unlicensedspectrum, a transmission resource provided by a wireless local areanetwork WLAN, or a transmission resource provided by a secondary eNodeB;and

sending the offloading inclination indication of the service data to anaccess network device, so that the access network device allocates,according to the offloading inclination indication, a transmissionresource used for transmitting the service data, and transmits theservice data by using the allocated transmission resource.

In a first possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, thedetermining an offloading inclination indication of service dataincludes:

acquiring QoS information of the service data; and

generating the offloading inclination indication of the service dataaccording to the QoS information.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the fifthaspect, in a second possible implementation manner, the generating theoffloading inclination indication of the service data according to theQoS information includes:

when the QoS information includes an aggregate maximum bit rate AMBR, anallocation/retention priority ARP, and a QoS class identifier QCI, if arate indicated by the AMBR is greater than a first threshold, a priorityindicated by the ARP is less than a first priority, and a delayindicated by the QCI is greater than a second threshold, generating anoffloading inclination indication used to instruct to preferably performscheduling on the first resource; or

when the QoS information includes a guaranteed bit rate GBR, generatingan offloading inclination indication used to instruct to prohibitscheduling on the first resource; or

when the QoS information does not include the GBR, generating anoffloading inclination indication used to instruct to allow schedulingon the first resource; or

when the QoS information does not include the GBR but includes the ARPand the QCI, if a priority indicated by the ARP is less than a secondpriority and a delay indicated by the QCI is less than a thirdthreshold, generating an offloading inclination indication used toinstruct to preferably perform scheduling on a non-first resource.

With reference to the fifth aspect, or the first or the second possibleimplementation manner, in a third possible implementation manner, thesending the offloading inclination indication of the service data to anaccess network device includes:

sending the offloading inclination indication to a primary eNodeB; or

forwarding the offloading inclination indication to the secondary eNodeBby using a primary eNodeB.

With reference to the fifth aspect, or the first or the second possibleimplementation manner, in a fourth possible implementation manner, afterthe sending the offloading inclination indication of the service data toan access network device, the method further includes:

receiving traffic statistics information fed back by the access networkdevice, where the traffic statistics information is fed back by theaccess network device after collecting traffic respectivelycorresponding to the transmission resource that is used for transmittingthe service data and belongs to the first resource and/or thetransmission resource that is used for transmitting the service data andbelongs to the non-first resource.

With reference to the fourth possible implementation manner of the fifthaspect, in a fifth possible implementation manner, when the core networkdevice is a mobility management entity MME, after the receiving trafficstatistics information fed back by the access network device, the methodfurther includes:

sending the traffic statistics information to a charging networkelement, so that the charging network element performs, according to thetraffic statistics information, differential charging on thetransmission resource that belongs to the first resource and/or thetransmission resource that belongs to the non-first resource.

With reference to the fifth aspect, or the first or the second possibleimplementation manner, in a sixth possible implementation manner, theoffloading inclination indication is carried by using a specific QoSclass identifier QCI value.

According to a sixth aspect, a data offloading method is provided, wherethe method includes:

receiving QoS information of service data;

allocating, according to the QoS information, a transmission resourceused for transmitting the service data, where the transmission resourceincludes a transmission resource that belongs to a first resource and atransmission resource that belongs to a non-first resource, and thefirst resource includes a Long Term Evolution LTE carrier in anunlicensed spectrum, a transmission resource provided by a wirelesslocal area network WLAN, or a transmission resource provided by asecondary eNodeB; and

transmitting the service data by using the allocated transmissionresource.

In a first possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, theallocating, according to the QoS information, a transmission resourceused for transmitting the service data includes:

when the QoS information includes an aggregate maximum bit rate AMBR, anallocation/retention priority ARP, and a QoS class identifier QCI, if arate indicated by the AMBR is greater than a first threshold, a priorityindicated by the ARP is less than a first priority, and a delayindicated by the QCI is greater than a second threshold, preferablyallocating the transmission resource that belongs to the first resourceto the service data; or

when the QoS information includes a guaranteed bit rate GBR, allocatingthe transmission resource that belongs to the non-first resource to theservice data; or

when the QoS information does not include the GBR but includes the ARPand the QCI, if a priority indicated by the ARP is less than a secondpriority and a delay indicated by the QCI is less than a thirdthreshold, preferably allocating the transmission resource that belongsto the non-first resource to the service data.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the sixthaspect, in a second possible implementation manner, the transmitting theservice data by using the allocated transmission resource includes:

when the transmission resource allocated to the service data includesthe transmission resource that belongs to the non-first resource,sending, by using an LTE carrier in a licensed spectrum, datacorresponding to the transmission resource that belongs to the non-firstresource in the service data to a terminal;

when the transmission resource allocated to the service data includesthe transmission resource that belongs to the first resource, and thefirst resource is the LTE carrier in the unlicensed spectrum, sending,by using the LTE carrier in the unlicensed spectrum, data correspondingto the transmission resource that belongs to the first resource in theservice data to a terminal;

when the transmission resource allocated to the service data includesthe transmission resource that belongs to the first resource, and thefirst resource is the transmission resource provided by the WLAN,sending data corresponding to the transmission resource that belongs tothe first resource in the service data to a wireless access point of theWLAN, so that the wireless access point forwards the data to a terminal;or

when the transmission resource allocated to the service data includesthe transmission resource that belongs to the first resource, and thefirst resource is the transmission resource provided by the secondaryeNodeB, instructing the secondary eNodeB to establish a bearer betweenthe secondary eNodeB and a terminal, and sending data corresponding tothe transmission resource that belongs to the first resource in theservice data to the secondary eNodeB, so that the secondary eNodeBforwards the data to the terminal by using the established bearer.

With reference to the sixth aspect, or the first or the second possibleimplementation manner, in a third possible implementation manner, thereceiving QoS information of service data from a core network deviceincludes:

receiving the QoS information directly sent by the core network device;or

receiving the QoS information forwarded by the core network device byusing a primary eNodeB.

With reference to the sixth aspect, or the first or the second possibleimplementation manner, in a fourth possible implementation manner, afterthe transmitting the offloaded service data by using the allocatedtransmission resource, the method further includes:

collecting traffic statistics information respectively corresponding tothe transmission resource that is used for transmitting the service dataand belongs to the first resource and/or the transmission resource thatis used for transmitting the service data and belongs to the non-firstresource; and

reporting the traffic statistics information to a core network device.

According to a seventh aspect, a data offloading system is provided,where the system includes a core network device and an access networkdevice, where

the core network device is the device according to the first aspect andthe possible implementation manners of the first aspect; and

the access network device is the device according to the second aspectand the possible implementation manners of the second aspect.

According to an eighth aspect, a data offloading system is provided,where the system includes a core network device and an access networkdevice, where

the access network device is the device according to the third aspectand the possible implementation manners of the third aspect.

Beneficial effects of the technical solutions provided in theembodiments of the present disclosure are as follows:

An access network device receives an offloading inclination indicationof service data from a core network device; the access network deviceallocates, according to the offloading inclination indication, atransmission resource used for transmitting the service data; and theaccess network device transmits the service data by using the allocatedtransmission resource, which resolves a problem that QoS in atransmission process cannot be ensured when data is offloaded by using afirst resource such as an unlicensed spectrum, a transmission resourceprovided by a WLAN, or a transmission resource provided by a secondaryeNodeB, and achieves an effect that the QoS in the transmission processcan be ensured even if the data is offloaded by using the first resourcesuch as the unlicensed spectrum, the transmission resource provided bythe WLAN, or the transmission resource provided by the secondary eNodeB.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

To describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the presentdisclosure more clearly, the following briefly describes theaccompanying drawings required for describing the embodiments.Apparently, the accompanying drawings in the following description showmerely some embodiments of the present disclosure, and a person ofordinary skill in the art may still derive other drawings from theseaccompanying drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1A to FIG. 1C are schematic structural diagrams of threeimplementation environments presented when an access network devicerelated to an embodiment of the present disclosure is a primary eNodeB;

FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B are schematic structural diagrams of twoimplementation environments presented when an access network devicerelated to an embodiment of the present disclosure is a secondaryeNodeB;

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a data offloading systemaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a data offloading systemaccording to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a data offloading systemaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a data offloading systemaccording to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a data offloading systemaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a data offloading systemaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a method flowchart of a data offloading method according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a method flowchart of a data offloading method according toanother embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a method flowchart of a data offloading method according toan embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 12 is a method flowchart of a data offloading method according toanother embodiment of the present disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of thepresent disclosure clearer, the following further describes theimplementation manners of the present disclosure in detail withreference to the accompanying drawings.

An implementation environment of an embodiment of the present disclosuremainly relates to a core network device, an access network device, and aterminal.

An LTE (Long Term Evolution) communications system is used as anexample. The core network device may be an MME (Mobile ManagementEntity); the access network device may be a P-eNB (Primary-eNodeB), ormay be an S-eNB (Secondary-eNodeB); the terminal may be UE (Userequipment). In another communications system, specific names andfunctions of the core network device, the access network device, and theterminal may be slightly different.

Referring to FIG. 1A to FIG. 1C, FIG. 1A to FIG. 1C show schematicstructural diagrams of three implementation environments presented whenan access network device related to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure is a primary eNodeB. Specifically:

FIG. 1A shows a schematic diagram of an architecture obtained when aprimary eNodeB offloads data by using an LTE carrier in an unlicensedspectrum, and the architecture includes a core network device 102, aprimary eNodeB 104, and a terminal 106. The core network device 102 isconnected to the primary eNodeB 104 by using a wired network, and theprimary eNodeB 104 is connected to the terminal 106 by using a wirelessnetwork. The core network device 102 is configured to deliver a controlinstruction to the primary eNodeB 104, and the primary eNodeB 104 andthe terminal 106 perform offloading transmission on service data byusing an LTE carrier in a licensed spectrum and the LTE carrier in theunlicensed spectrum.

FIG. 1B shows a schematic diagram of an architecture obtained when aprimary eNodeB offloads data by using a transmission resource providedby a WLAN, and the architecture includes a core network device 102, aprimary eNodeB 104, and a terminal 106. The core network device 102 isconnected to the primary eNodeB 104 by using a wired network, and theprimary eNodeB 104 is connected to the terminal 106 by using a wirelessnetwork. The core network device 102 is configured to deliver a controlinstruction to the primary eNodeB 104, and the primary eNodeB 104 andthe terminal 106 perform offloading transmission on service data byusing an LTE carrier in a licensed spectrum and the transmissionresource provided by the WLAN.

FIG. 1C shows a schematic diagram of an architecture obtained when aprimary eNodeB offloads data by using a transmission resource providedby a secondary eNodeB, and the architecture includes a core networkdevice 102, a primary eNodeB 104, a terminal 106, and a secondary eNodeB108. The core network device 102 is connected to the primary eNodeB 104by using a wired network, the primary eNodeB 104 is connected to thesecondary eNodeB 108 by using a wired or wireless network, and theprimary eNodeB 104 and the secondary eNodeB 108 are connected to theterminal 106 by using a wireless network. The core network device 102 isconfigured to deliver a control instruction to the primary eNodeB 104,and the primary eNodeB 104 and the terminal 106 perform offloadingtransmission on service data by using an LTE carrier in a licensedspectrum and the transmission resource provided by the secondary eNodeB108.

Referring to FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B show schematicstructural diagrams of two implementation environments presented when anaccess network device related to an embodiment of the present disclosureis a secondary eNodeB.

FIG. 2A shows a schematic diagram of an architecture obtained when asecondary eNodeB offloads data by using an LTE carrier in an unlicensedspectrum, and the architecture includes a core network device 102, aprimary eNodeB 104, a terminal 106, and a secondary eNodeB 108. The corenetwork device 102 is connected to the primary eNodeB 104 by using awired network, the primary eNodeB 104 is connected to the secondaryeNodeB 108 by using a wired or wireless network, and the primary eNodeB104 and the secondary eNodeB 108 are connected to the terminal 106 byusing a wireless network. The core network device 102 is configured todeliver a control instruction to the secondary eNodeB 108 by using theprimary eNodeB 104, and the secondary eNodeB 108 and the terminal 106perform offloading transmission on service data by using an LTE carrierin a licensed spectrum and the LTE carrier in the unlicensed spectrum.

FIG. 2B shows a schematic diagram of an architecture obtained when aprimary eNodeB offloads data by using a transmission resource providedby a WLAN, and the architecture includes a core network device 102, aprimary eNodeB 104, a terminal 106, and a secondary eNodeB 108. The corenetwork device 102 is connected to the primary eNodeB 104 by using awired network, the primary eNodeB 104 is connected to the secondaryeNodeB 108 by using a wired or wireless network, and the primary eNodeB104 and the secondary eNodeB 108 are connected to the terminal 106 byusing a wireless network. The core network device 102 is configured todeliver a control instruction to the secondary eNodeB 108 by using theprimary eNodeB 104, and the secondary eNodeB 108 and the terminal 106perform offloading transmission on service data by using an LTE carrierin a licensed spectrum and the transmission resource provided by theWLAN.

Referring to FIG. 3, FIG. 3 shows a schematic structural diagram of adata offloading system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. This embodiment is described by using an example in whichthe access network device is the primary eNodeB 104 shown in FIG.1A/FIG. 1B/FIG. 1C, or the access network device is the secondary eNodeB108 shown in FIG. 2B/FIG. 2C. The system includes a core network device320 and an access network device 340.

The core network device 320 includes an indication determining module322 and an indication sending module 324.

The indication determining module 322 is configured to determine anoffloading inclination indication of service data, where the offloadinginclination indication is used to indicate a scheduling inclination ofthe service data on a first resource, and the first resource includes anLTE carrier in an unlicensed spectrum, a transmission resource providedby a WLAN, or a transmission resource provided by a secondary eNodeB.The service data mainly refers to downlink service data in thisembodiment.

The indication sending module 324 is configured to send the offloadinginclination indication of the service data to the access network device340, so that the access network device 340 allocates, according to theoffloading inclination indication, a transmission resource used fortransmitting the service data, and transmits the service data by usingthe allocated transmission resource.

The access network device 340 includes an indication receiving module342, a resource allocation module 344, and a data transmission module346.

The indication receiving module 342 is configured to receive theoffloading inclination indication of the service data, where theoffloading inclination indication is used to indicate the schedulinginclination of the service data on the first resource, and the firstresource includes the LTE carrier in the unlicensed spectrum, thetransmission resource provided by the WLAN, or the transmission resourceprovided by the secondary eNodeB. The offloading inclination indicationmay be generated by the core network device according to QoS informationof the service data.

The resource allocation module 344 is configured to allocate, accordingto the offloading inclination indication, the transmission resource usedfor transmitting the service data.

The data transmission module 346 is configured to transmit the servicedata by using the allocated transmission resource.

In conclusion, according to the data offloading system provided in thisembodiment, an access network device receives an offloading inclinationindication of service data from a core network device; allocates,according to the offloading inclination indication, a transmissionresource used for transmitting the service data; and transmits theservice data by using the allocated transmission resource, whichresolves a problem that QoS in a transmission process cannot be ensuredwhen data is offloaded by using a first resource such as an unlicensedspectrum, a transmission resource provided by a WLAN, or a transmissionresource provided by a secondary eNodeB, and achieves an effect that theQoS in the transmission process can be ensured even if the data isoffloaded by using the first resource such as the unlicensed spectrum,the transmission resource provided by the WLAN, or the transmissionresource provided by the secondary eNodeB.

Referring to FIG. 4, FIG. 4 shows a schematic structural diagram of adata offloading system according to another embodiment of the presentdisclosure. This embodiment is described by using an example in whichthe access network device is the primary eNodeB 104 shown in FIG.1A/FIG. 1B/FIG. 1C, or the access network device is the secondary eNodeB108 shown in FIG. 2B/FIG. 2C. The system includes a core network device320 and an access network device 340.

The core network device 320 includes an indication determining module322, an indication sending module 324, a traffic receiving module 326,and a traffic forwarding module 328.

The indication determining module 322 is configured to determine anoffloading inclination indication of service data, where the offloadinginclination indication is used to indicate a scheduling inclination ofthe service data on a first resource, and the first resource includes anLTE carrier in an unlicensed spectrum, a transmission resource providedby a WLAN, or a transmission resource provided by a secondary eNodeB.The service data mainly refers to downlink service data in thisembodiment, or the service data may include both downlink service dataand uplink service data.

The indication determining module 322 includes an information acquiringunit and an indication generation unit.

The information acquiring unit is configured to acquire QoS informationof the service data.

The indication generation unit is configured to generate the offloadinginclination indication of the service data according to the QoSinformation. Preferably, the offloading inclination indication includes:prohibiting scheduling on the first resource; or allowing scheduling onthe first resource; or preferably performing scheduling on the firstresource; or preferably performing scheduling on a non-first resource.Preferably, the offloading inclination indication is carried by using aspecific QoS class identifier QCI value.

That is, the indication generation unit includes a first generationsubunit, a second generation subunit, a third generation subunit, and afourth generation subunit.

The first generation subunit is configured to: when the QoS informationincludes an AMBR (Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate), an ARP(Allocation/Retention Priority), and a QCI (QoS Class Identifier), if arate indicated by the AMBR is greater than a first threshold, a priorityindicated by the ARP is less than a first priority, and a delayindicated by the QCI is greater than a second threshold, generate theoffloading inclination indication used to instruct to preferably performscheduling on the first resource.

The second generation subunit is configured to: when the QoS informationincludes a guaranteed bit rate GBR, generate the offloading inclinationindication used to instruct to prohibit scheduling on the firstresource.

The third generation subunit is configured to: when the QoS informationdoes not include the GBR, generate the offloading inclination indicationused to instruct to allow scheduling on the first resource.

The fourth generation subunit is configured to: when the QoS informationdoes not include the GBR but includes the ARP and the QCI, if a priorityindicated by the ARP is less than a second priority and a delayindicated by the QCI is less than a third threshold, generate theoffloading inclination indication used to instruct to preferably performscheduling on the non-first resource.

It should be noted that if the service data includes uplink servicedata, the foregoing offloading inclination indication may be anuplink-downlink shared offloading inclination indication, or may includea downlink offloading inclination indication dedicated to a downlinkand/or an uplink offloading inclination indication dedicated to anuplink.

The indication sending module 324 is configured to send the offloadinginclination indication that is of the service data and is determined bythe indication determining module 322 to the access network device 340.When the access network device is a primary eNodeB, the indicationsending module 324 is configured to directly send the offloadinginclination indication to the eNodeB. When the access network device isa secondary eNodeB, the indication sending module is configured toforward the offloading inclination indication to the secondary eNodeB byusing a primary eNodeB.

The traffic receiving module 326 is configured to receive trafficstatistics information fed back by the access network device 340,wherein the traffic statistics information is fed back by the accessnetwork device 340 after the access network device 340 have collectedtraffic respectively corresponding to a transmission resource that isused for transmitting the service data and belongs to the first resourceand/or a transmission resource that is used for transmitting the servicedata and belongs to the non-first resource.

When the core network device is a mobility management entity MME, thedevice further includes the traffic forwarding module 328.

The traffic forwarding module 328 is configured to send the trafficstatistics information to a charging network element, so that thecharging network element performs, according to the traffic statisticsinformation, differential charging on the transmission resource thatbelongs to the first resource and/or the transmission resource thatbelongs to the non-first resource.

The access network device 340 includes an indication receiving module342, an uplink indication module 343, a resource allocation module 344,a data transmission module 346, a traffic statistics collection module347, and a traffic reporting module 348.

The indication receiving module 342 is configured to receive theoffloading inclination indication of the service data, where theoffloading inclination indication is used to indicate the schedulinginclination of the service data on the first resource, and the firstresource includes the LTE carrier in the unlicensed spectrum, thetransmission resource provided by the WLAN, or the transmission resourceprovided by the secondary eNodeB. The offloading inclination indicationmay be generated by the core network device according to the QoSinformation of the service data.

When the access network device 340 is a primary eNodeB, the indicationreceiving module 342 is configured to receive the offloading inclinationindication sent by the core network device 320; or when the accessnetwork device 340 is a secondary eNodeB, the indication receivingmodule 342 is configured to receive the offloading inclinationindication forwarded by the core network device 340 by using a primaryeNodeB. In another possible implementation manner, the indicationreceiving module 342 is configured to receive the offloading inclinationindication sent by a primary eNodeB, wherein the offloading inclinationindication is generated by the primary eNodeB according to the QoSinformation of the service data after the primary eNodeB receives theQoS information that is of the service data and is sent by the corenetwork device. For a process in which the primary eNodeB generates theoffloading inclination indication according to the QoS information ofthe service data, refer to the related description of the indicationdetermining module 322.

The resource allocation module 344 is configured to allocate, accordingto the offloading inclination indication received by the indicationreceiving module 342, a transmission resource used for transmitting theservice data. Preferably, the offloading inclination indicationincludes: prohibiting scheduling on the first resource; or allowingscheduling on the first resource; or preferably performing scheduling onthe first resource; or preferably performing scheduling on the non-firstresource. In this case,

the resource allocation module 344 is configured to: when the offloadinginclination indication is used to instruct to prohibit scheduling on thefirst resource, allocate the transmission resource that belongs to thenon-first resource to the service data; or

the resource allocation module 344 is configured to: when the offloadinginclination indication is used to instruct to preferably performscheduling on the first resource, preferably allocate the transmissionresource that belongs to the first resource to the service data; or

the resource allocation module 344 is configured to: when the offloadinginclination indication is used to instruct to allow scheduling on thefirst resource, and the first resource is available, allocate thetransmission resource that belongs to the first resource to the servicedata; or

the resource allocation module 344 is configured to: when the offloadinginclination indication is used to instruct to preferably performscheduling on the non-first resource, preferably allocate thetransmission resource that belongs to the non-first resource to theservice data.

The data transmission module 346 is configured to transmit the servicedata by using the transmission resource allocated by the resourceallocation module 344. Correspondingly, the data transmission module 346includes a first transmission unit, a second transmission unit, a thirdtransmission unit, and a fourth transmission unit.

The first transmission unit is configured to: when the transmissionresource allocated by the resource allocation module 344 to the servicedata includes the transmission resource that belongs to the non-firstresource, send, by using an LTE carrier in a licensed spectrum, datacorresponding to the transmission resource that belongs to the non-firstresource in the service data to a terminal.

The second transmission unit is configured to: when the transmissionresource allocated by the resource allocation module 344 to the servicedata includes the transmission resource that belongs to the firstresource, and the first resource is the LTE carrier in the unlicensedspectrum, send, by using the LTE carrier in the unlicensed spectrum,data corresponding to the transmission resource that belongs to thefirst resource in the service data to a terminal.

The third transmission unit is configured to: when the transmissionresource allocated by the resource allocation module 344 to the servicedata includes the transmission resource that belongs to the firstresource, and the first resource is the transmission resource providedby the WLAN, send data corresponding to the transmission resource thatbelongs to the first resource in the service data to a wireless accesspoint of the WLAN, so that the wireless access point forwards the datato a terminal.

The fourth transmission unit is configured to: when the transmissionresource allocated by the resource allocation module 344 to the servicedata includes the transmission resource that belongs to the firstresource, and the first resource is the transmission resource providedby the secondary eNodeB, instruct the secondary eNodeB to establish abearer between the secondary eNodeB and a terminal, and send datacorresponding to the transmission resource that belongs to the firstresource in the service data to the secondary eNodeB, so that thesecondary eNodeB forwards the data to the terminal by using theestablished bearer.

It should be noted that if the service data further includes uplinkservice data, the device further includes the uplink indication module343.

The uplink indication module 343 is configured to, when the offloadinginclination indication received by the indication receiving module 342is an uplink-downlink shared offloading inclination indication, send theoffloading inclination indication to the terminal, so that the terminaldetermines, according to the offloading inclination indication, atransmission resource used for transmitting the uplink service data, andtransmits the uplink service data according to the determinedtransmission resource used for transmitting the uplink service data.

The uplink indication module 343 is configured to, when the offloadinginclination indication received by the indication receiving module 342includes a separate uplink offloading inclination indication, send theuplink offloading inclination indication in the offloading inclinationindication to the terminal, so that the terminal determines, accordingto the uplink offloading inclination indication, a transmission resourceused for transmitting the uplink service data, and transmits the uplinkservice data according to the determined transmission resource used fortransmitting the uplink service data.

Certainly, in a scenario in which the service data includes only theuplink service data, the access network device 340 may not include theresource allocation module 344 and the data transmission module 346, andinclude only the indication receiving module 342 and the uplinkindication module 343.

The device further includes the traffic statistics collection module 347and the traffic reporting module 348.

The traffic statistics collection module 347 is configured to collectthe traffic statistics information respectively corresponding to thetransmission resource that is used for transmitting the service data andbelongs to the first resource and/or the transmission resource that isused for transmitting the service data and belongs to the non-firstresource.

The traffic reporting module 348 is configured to report the trafficstatistics information to the core network device 320. Differentialcharging may be performed on the first resource and the non-firstresource after the traffic statistics information is received by thecore network device 320.

In conclusion, according to the data offloading system provided in thisembodiment, an access network device receives an offloading inclinationindication of service data from a core network device; allocates,according to the offloading inclination indication, a transmissionresource used for transmitting the service data; and transmits theservice data by using the allocated transmission resource, whichresolves a problem that QoS in a transmission process cannot be ensuredwhen data is offloaded by using a first resource such as an unlicensedspectrum, a transmission resource provided by a WLAN, or a transmissionresource provided by a secondary eNodeB, and achieves an effect that theQoS in the transmission process can be ensured even if the data isoffloaded by using the first resource such as the unlicensed spectrum,the transmission resource provided by the WLAN, or the transmissionresource provided by the secondary eNodeB.

According to the data offloading system provided in this embodiment, thecore network device further generates the offloading inclinationindication according to QoS information, which can effectively ensurethe QoS of the service data. The offloading inclination indication isfurther sent to a terminal, so that the QoS is ensured when the servicedata includes uplink service data. The offloading inclination indicationis further carried by using a specific QoS class identifier QCI value,which reduces signal interaction between the core network device and theaccess network device, and reduces a demand for control resources. Theaccess network device further reports traffic statistics information tothe core network device, which helps implement an effect of differentialcharging or other statistics collection on the first resource and anon-first resource.

Referring to FIG. 5, FIG. 5 shows a schematic structural diagram of adata offloading system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. This embodiment is described by using an example in whichthe access network device is the primary eNodeB 104 shown in FIG.1A/FIG. 1B/FIG. 1C, or the access network device is the secondary eNodeB108 shown in FIG. 2B/FIG. 2C. The system includes a core network device520 and an access network device 540.

The core network device 520 includes an information sending module 522.

The information sending module 522 is configured to send QoS informationof service data to the access network device 540.

The access network device 540 includes an information receiving module542, a transmission allocation module 544, and a data transmissionmodule 546.

The information receiving module 542 is configured to receive the QoSinformation of the service data.

The transmission allocation module 544 is configured to allocate,according to the QoS information, a transmission resource used fortransmitting the service data, where the transmission resource includesa transmission resource that belongs to a first resource and atransmission resource that belongs to a non-first resource, and thefirst resource includes an LTE carrier in an unlicensed spectrum, atransmission resource provided by a WLAN, or a transmission resourceprovided by a secondary eNodeB.

The data transmission module 546 is configured to transmit the servicedata by using the allocated transmission resource.

In conclusion, according to the data offloading system provided in thisembodiment, an access network device receives QoS information from acore network device; allocates, according to the QoS information, atransmission resource used for transmitting service data; and transmitsthe service data by using the allocated transmission resource, whichresolves a problem that QoS in a transmission process cannot be ensuredwhen data is offloaded by using a first resource such as an unlicensedspectrum, a transmission resource provided by a WLAN, or a transmissionresource provided by a secondary eNodeB, and achieves an effect that theQoS in the transmission process can be ensured even if the data isoffloaded by using the first resource such as the unlicensed spectrum,the transmission resource provided by the WLAN, or the transmissionresource provided by the secondary eNodeB.

Referring to FIG. 6, FIG. 6 shows a schematic structural diagram of adata offloading system according to another embodiment of the presentdisclosure. This embodiment is described by using an example in whichthe access network device is the primary eNodeB 104 shown in FIG.1A/FIG. 1B/FIG. 1C, or the access network device is the secondary eNodeB108 shown in FIG. 2B/FIG. 2C. The system includes a core network device520 and an access network device 540.

The core network device 520 includes an information sending module 522,a traffic receiving module 524, and a traffic forwarding module 526.

The information sending module 522 is configured to send QoS informationof service data to the access network device 540. The informationsending module 522 is configured to directly send the QoS information toa primary eNodeB; or the information sending module 522 is configured toforward the QoS information to a secondary eNodeB by using a primaryeNodeB.

The traffic receiving module 524 is configured to receive trafficstatistics information fed back by the access network device 540,wherein the traffic statistics information is fed back by the accessnetwork device 540 after collecting traffic respectively correspondingto a transmission resource that is used for transmitting the servicedata and belongs to a first resource and/or a transmission resource thatis used for transmitting the service data and belongs to a non-firstresource.

When the core network device is a mobility management entity MME, thecore network device further includes the traffic forwarding module 526.

The traffic forwarding module 526 is configured to send the trafficstatistics information to a charging network element, so that thecharging network element performs, according to the traffic statisticsinformation, differential charging on a transmission resource thatbelongs to the first resource and/or a transmission resource thatbelongs to the non-first resource.

The access network device 540 includes an information receiving module542, a transmission allocation module 544, a data transmission module546, a traffic statistics collection module 547, and a traffic reportingmodule 548.

The information receiving module 542 is configured to receive the QoSinformation of the service data. The QoS information includes but is notlimited to a QCI (QoS Class Identifier), a GBR (Guaranteed Bit Rate), anAMBR (Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate), and an ARP (allocation/retentionpriority). The information receiving module 542 is configured to receivethe QoS information directly sent by the core network device 520; or theinformation receiving module 542 is configured to receive the QoSinformation forwarded by the core network device 520 by using theprimary eNodeB.

The transmission allocation module 544 is configured to allocate,according to the QoS information, a transmission resource used fortransmitting the service data, wherein the transmission resourceincludes the transmission resource that belongs to the first resourceand the transmission resource that belongs to the non-first resource,and the first resource includes an LTE carrier in an unlicensedspectrum, a transmission resource provided by a WLAN, or a transmissionresource provided by a secondary eNodeB.

The transmission allocation module 544 includes a first allocation unit,a second allocation unit, a third allocation unit, and a fourthallocation unit.

The first allocation unit is configured to: when the QoS informationincludes the aggregate maximum bit rate AMBR, the allocation/retentionpriority ARP, and the QoS class identifier QCI, if a rate indicated bythe AMBR is greater than a first threshold, a priority indicated by theARP is less than a first priority, and a delay indicated by the QCI isgreater than a second threshold, preferably allocate the transmissionresource that belongs to the first resource to the service data.

The second allocation unit is configured to: when the QoS informationincludes the guaranteed bit rate GBR, allocate the transmission resourcethat belongs to the non-first resource to the service data.

The third allocation unit is configured to: when the QoS informationdoes not include the GBR, and the first resource is available, allocatethe transmission resource that belongs to the first resource to theservice data.

The fourth allocation unit is configured to: when the QoS informationdoes not include the GBR but includes the ARP and the QCI, if a priorityindicated by the ARP is less than a second priority and a delayindicated by the QCI is less than a third threshold, preferably allocatethe transmission resource that belongs to the non-first resource to theservice data.

The data transmission module 546 is configured to transmit the servicedata by using the allocated transmission resource.

The data transmission module 546 includes a first transmission unit, asecond transmission unit, a third transmission unit, and a fourthtransmission unit.

The first transmission unit is configured to: when the transmissionresource allocated to the service data includes the transmissionresource that belongs to the non-first resource, send, by using an LTEcarrier in a licensed spectrum, data corresponding to the transmissionresource that belongs to the non-first resource in the service data to aterminal.

The second transmission unit is configured to: when the transmissionresource allocated to the service data includes the transmissionresource that belongs to the first resource, and the first resource isthe LTE carrier in the unlicensed spectrum, send, by using the LTEcarrier in the unlicensed spectrum, data corresponding to thetransmission resource that belongs to the first resource in the servicedata to a terminal.

The third transmission unit is configured to: when the transmissionresource allocated to the service data includes the transmissionresource that belongs to the first resource, and the first resource isthe transmission resource provided by the WLAN, send data correspondingto the transmission resource that belongs to the first resource in theservice data to a wireless access point of the WLAN, so that thewireless access point forwards the data to a terminal.

The fourth transmission unit is configured to: when the transmissionresource allocated to the service data includes the transmissionresource that belongs to the first resource, and the first resource isthe transmission resource provided by the secondary eNodeB, instruct thesecondary eNodeB to establish a bearer between the secondary eNodeB anda terminal, and send data corresponding to the transmission resourcethat belongs to the first resource in the service data to the secondaryeNodeB, so that the secondary eNodeB forwards the data to the terminalby using the established bearer.

The device further includes the traffic statistics collection module 547and the traffic reporting module 548.

The traffic statistics collection module 547 is configured to collectthe traffic statistics information respectively corresponding to thetransmission resource that is used for transmitting the service data andbelongs to the first resource and/or the transmission resource that isused for transmitting the service data and belongs to the non-firstresource.

The traffic reporting module 548 is configured to report the trafficstatistics information to the core network device 520.

In conclusion, according to the data offloading system provided in thisembodiment, an access network device receives an offloading inclinationindication of service data from a core network device; allocates,according to the offloading inclination indication, a transmissionresource used for transmitting the service data; and transmits theservice data by using the allocated transmission resource, whichresolves a problem that QoS in a transmission process cannot be ensuredwhen data is offloaded by using a first resource such as an unlicensedspectrum, a transmission resource provided by a WLAN, or a transmissionresource provided by a secondary eNodeB, and achieves an effect that theQoS in the transmission process can be ensured even if the data isoffloaded by using the first resource such as the unlicensed spectrum,the transmission resource provided by the WLAN, or the transmissionresource provided by the secondary eNodeB.

According to the data offloading system provided in this embodiment, theoffloading inclination indication is further carried by using a specificQoS class identifier QCI value, which reduces signal interaction betweenthe core network device and the access network device, and reduces ademand for control resources. The access network device further reportstraffic statistics information to the core network device, which helpsimplement an effect of differential charging or other statisticscollection on the first resource and a non-first resource.

Referring to FIG. 7, FIG. 7 shows a schematic structural diagram of adata offloading system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. This embodiment is described by using an example in whichthe access network device is the primary eNodeB 104 shown in FIG.1A/FIG. 1B/FIG. 1C, or the access network device is the secondary eNodeB108 shown in FIG. 2B/FIG. 2C. The system includes a core network device720 and an access network device 740.

The core network device 720 includes a processor 722, a transmitter 724,and a receiver 726.

The processor 722 is configured to determine an offloading inclinationindication of service data, wherein the offloading inclinationindication is used to indicate a scheduling inclination of the servicedata on a first resource, and the first resource includes an LTE carrierin an unlicensed spectrum, a transmission resource provided by a WLAN,or a transmission resource provided by a secondary eNodeB. The servicedata mainly refers to downlink service data in this embodiment.

The transmitter 724 is configured to send the offloading inclinationindication of the service data to the access network device 740, so thatthe access network device 740 allocates, according to the offloadinginclination indication, a transmission resource used for transmittingthe service data, and transmits the service data by using the allocatedtransmission resource.

The access network device 740 includes a processor 742, a transmitter744, and a receiver 746.

The receiver 746 is configured to receive the offloading inclinationindication of the service data, where the offloading inclinationindication is used to indicate the scheduling inclination of the servicedata on the first resource, and the first resource includes the LTEcarrier in the unlicensed spectrum, the transmission resource providedby the WLAN, or the transmission resource provided by the secondaryeNodeB.

The processor 742 is configured to allocate, according to the offloadinginclination indication, the transmission resource used for transmittingthe service data.

The transmitter 744 is configured to transmit the service data by usingthe allocated transmission resource.

In conclusion, according to the data offloading system provided in thisembodiment, an access network device receives an offloading inclinationindication of service data from a core network device; allocates,according to the offloading inclination indication, a transmissionresource used for transmitting the service data; and transmits theservice data by using the allocated transmission resource, whichresolves a problem that QoS in a transmission process cannot be ensuredwhen data is offloaded by using a first resource such as an unlicensedspectrum, a transmission resource provided by a WLAN, or a transmissionresource provided by a secondary eNodeB, and achieves an effect that theQoS in the transmission process can be ensured even if the data isoffloaded by using the first resource such as the unlicensed spectrum,the transmission resource provided by the WLAN, or the transmissionresource provided by the secondary eNodeB.

For the core network device 720:

In a more preferred implementation manner based on the embodiment shownin FIG. 7, the processor 722 is configured to: acquire QoS informationof the service data, and generate the offloading inclination indicationof the service data according to the QoS information. The offloadinginclination indication includes: prohibiting scheduling on the firstresource; or allowing scheduling on the first resource; or preferablyperforming scheduling on the first resource; or preferably performingscheduling on a non-first resource. However, if the service dataincludes uplink service data, the foregoing offloading inclinationindication may be an uplink-downlink shared offloading inclinationindication, or may include a downlink offloading inclination indicationdedicated to a downlink and/or an uplink offloading inclinationindication dedicated to an uplink.

In a more preferred implementation manner based on the embodiment shownin FIG. 7,

the processor 722 is configured to: when the QoS information includes anaggregate maximum bit rate AMBR, an allocation/retention priority ARP,and a QoS class identifier QCI, if a rate indicated by the AMBR isgreater than a first threshold, a priority indicated by the ARP is lessthan a first priority, and a delay indicated by the QCI is greater thana second threshold, generate the offloading inclination indication usedto instruct to preferably perform scheduling on the first resource;

the processor 722 is configured to: when the QoS information includes aguaranteed bit rate GBR, generate the offloading inclination indicationused to instruct to prohibit scheduling on the first resource;

the processor 722 is configured to: when the QoS information does notinclude the GBR, generate the offloading inclination indication used toinstruct to allow scheduling on the first resource; or

the processor 722 is configured to: when the QoS information does notinclude the GBR but includes the ARP and the QCI, if a priorityindicated by the ARP is less than a second priority and a delayindicated by the QCI is less than a third threshold, generate theoffloading inclination indication used to instruct to preferably performscheduling on the non-first resource.

In a more preferred implementation manner based on the embodiment shownin FIG. 7,

the transmitter 724 is configured to send the offloading inclinationindication to a primary eNodeB; or

the transmitter 724 is configured to forward the offloading inclinationindication to the secondary eNodeB by using a primary eNodeB.

In a more preferred implementation manner based on the embodiment shownin FIG. 7,

the receiver 726 is configured to receive traffic statistics informationfed back by the access network device, where the traffic statisticsinformation is fed back by the access network device after collectingtraffic respectively corresponding to a transmission resource that isused for transmitting the service data and belongs to the first resourceand/or a transmission resource that is used for transmitting the servicedata and belongs to the non-first resource.

In a more preferred implementation manner based on the embodiment shownin FIG. 7,

the transmitter 724 is configured to send the traffic statisticsinformation to a charging network element, so that the charging networkelement performs, according to the traffic statistics information,differential charging on the transmission resource that belongs to thefirst resource and/or the transmission resource that belongs to thenon-first resource.

The offloading inclination indication is carried by using a specific QoSclass identifier QCI value.

For the access network device 740:

In a more preferred implementation manner based on the embodiment shownin FIG. 7, the offloading inclination indication includes:

prohibiting scheduling on the first resource; or

allowing scheduling on the first resource; or

preferably performing scheduling on the first resource; or

preferably performing scheduling on the non-first resource.

In a more preferred implementation manner based on the embodiment shownin FIG. 7,

the processor 742 is configured to: when the offloading inclinationindication is used to instruct to prohibit scheduling on the firstresource, allocate a transmission resource that belongs to the non-firstresource to the service data; or

the processor 742 is configured to: when the offloading inclinationindication is used to instruct to preferably perform scheduling on thefirst resource, preferably allocate a transmission resource that belongsto the first resource to the service data; or

the processor 742 is configured to: when the offloading inclinationindication is used to instruct to allow scheduling on the firstresource, and the first resource is available, allocate a transmissionresource that belongs to the first resource to the service data; or

the processor 742 is configured to: when the offloading inclinationindication is used to instruct to preferably perform scheduling on thenon-first resource, preferably allocate a transmission resource thatbelongs to the non-first resource to the service data.

In a more preferred implementation manner based on the embodiment shownin FIG. 7,

the transmitter 744 is configured to: when the transmission resourceallocated by the processor 742 to the service data includes thetransmission resource that belongs to the non-first resource, send, byusing an LTE carrier in a licensed spectrum, data corresponding to thetransmission resource that belongs to the non-first resource in theservice data to a terminal;

the transmitter 744 is configured to: when the transmission resourceallocated by the processor 742 to the service data includes thetransmission resource that belongs to the first resource, and the firstresource is the LTE carrier in the unlicensed spectrum, send, by usingthe LTE carrier in the unlicensed spectrum, data corresponding to thetransmission resource that belongs to the first resource in the servicedata to a terminal;

the transmitter 744 is configured to: when the transmission resourceallocated by the processor 742 to the service data includes thetransmission resource that belongs to the first resource, and the firstresource is the transmission resource provided by the WLAN, send datacorresponding to the transmission resource that belongs to the firstresource in the service data to a wireless access point of the WLAN, sothat the wireless access point forwards the data to a terminal; or

the transmitter 744 is configured to: when the transmission resourceallocated by the processor 742 to the service data includes thetransmission resource that belongs to the first resource, and the firstresource is the transmission resource provided by the secondary eNodeB,instruct the secondary eNodeB to establish a bearer between thesecondary eNodeB and a terminal, and send data corresponding to thetransmission resource that belongs to the first resource in the servicedata to the secondary eNodeB, so that the secondary eNodeB forwards thedata to the terminal by using the established bearer.

In a more preferred implementation manner based on the embodiment shownin FIG. 7,

the receiver 742 is configured to receive the offloading inclinationindication sent by the core network device; or

the receiver 742 is configured to receive the offloading inclinationindication forwarded by the core network device by using a primaryeNodeB; or

the receiver 742 is configured to receive the offloading inclinationindication sent by a primary eNodeB, wherein the offloading inclinationindication is generated by the primary eNodeB according to QoSinformation of the service data after the primary eNodeB receives theQoS information that is of the service data and is sent by the corenetwork device.

In a more preferred implementation manner based on the embodiment shownin FIG. 7, if the service data includes both downlink service data anduplink service data, or the service data includes only uplink servicedata,

the transmitter 744 is configured to, when the offloading inclinationindication is an uplink-downlink shared offloading inclinationindication, send the offloading inclination indication to the terminal,so that the terminal determines, according to the offloading inclinationindication, a transmission resource used for transmitting the uplinkservice data, and transmits the uplink service data according to thedetermined transmission resource used for transmitting the uplinkservice data; or

the transmitter 744 is configured to, when the offloading inclinationindication includes a separate uplink offloading inclination indication,send the uplink offloading inclination indication in the offloadinginclination indication to the terminal, so that the terminal determines,according to the uplink offloading inclination indication, atransmission resource used for transmitting the uplink service data, andtransmits the uplink service data according to the determinedtransmission resource used for transmitting the uplink service data.

In a more preferred implementation manner based on the embodiment shownin FIG. 7,

the processor 742 is configured to collect the traffic statisticsinformation respectively corresponding to the transmission resource thatis used for transmitting the service data and belongs to the firstresource and/or the transmission resource that is used for transmittingthe service data and belongs to the non-first resource; and

the transmitter 744 is configured to report the traffic statisticsinformation to the core network device.

Preferably, the offloading inclination indication is carried by using aspecific QoS class identifier QCI value.

Referring to FIG. 8, FIG. 8 shows a schematic structural diagram of adata offloading system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. This embodiment is described by using an example in whichthe access network device is the primary eNodeB 104 shown in FIG.1A/FIG. 1B/FIG. 1C, or the access network device is the secondary eNodeB108 shown in FIG. 2B/FIG. 2C. The system includes a core network device820 and an access network device 840.

The core network device 820 includes a processor 822, a transmitter 824,and a receiver 826.

The processor 822 is configured to control the transmitter 824 to sendQoS information of service data to the access network device 840.

The access network device 840 includes a processor 842, a transmitter844, and a receiver 846.

The receiver 846 is configured to receive the QoS information of theservice data. The QoS information includes but is not limited to a QCI(QoS Class Identifier), a GBR (Guaranteed Bit Rate), an AMBR (AggregateMaximum Bit Rate), and an ARP (allocation/retention priority).

The processor 842 is configured to allocate, according to the QoSinformation, a transmission resource used for transmitting the servicedata, where the transmission resource includes a transmission resourcethat belongs to a first resource and a transmission resource thatbelongs to a non-first resource, and the first resource includes an LTEcarrier in an unlicensed spectrum, a transmission resource provided by aWLAN, or a transmission resource provided by a secondary eNodeB.

The transmitter 844 is configured to transmit the service data by usingthe allocated transmission resource.

In conclusion, according to the data offloading system provided in thisembodiment, an access network device receives QoS information from acore network device; allocates, according to the QoS information, atransmission resource used for transmitting service data; and transmitsthe service data by using the allocated transmission resource, whichresolves a problem that QoS in a transmission process cannot be ensuredwhen data is offloaded by using a first resource such as an unlicensedspectrum, a transmission resource provided by a WLAN, or a transmissionresource provided by a secondary eNodeB, and achieves an effect that theQoS in the transmission process can be ensured even if the data isoffloaded by using the first resource such as the unlicensed spectrum,the transmission resource provided by the WLAN, or the transmissionresource provided by the secondary eNodeB.

For the core network device 820:

In a more preferred embodiment based on what is provided in FIG. 8, thereceiver 826 is configured to receive traffic statistics information fedback by the access network device 840, where the traffic statisticsinformation is fed back by the access network device 840 aftercollecting traffic respectively corresponding to the transmissionresource that is used for transmitting the service data and belongs tothe first resource and/or the transmission resource that is used fortransmitting the service data and belongs to the non-first resource.

When the core network device is a mobility management entity MME, thetransmitter 824 is configured to send the traffic statistics informationto a charging network element, so that the charging network elementperforms, according to the traffic statistics information, differentialcharging on the transmission resource that belongs to the first resourceand/or the transmission resource that belongs to the non-first resource.

For the access network device 840:

In a more preferred embodiment based on what is provided in FIG. 8,

the processor 842 is configured to: when the QoS information includesthe aggregate maximum bit rate AMBR, the allocation/retention priorityARP, and the QoS class identifier QCI, if a rate indicated by the AMBRis greater than a first threshold, a priority indicated by the ARP isless than a first priority, and a delay indicated by the QCI is greaterthan a second threshold, preferably allocate the transmission resourcethat belongs to the first resource to the service data;

the processor 842 is configured to: when the QoS information includesthe guaranteed bit rate GBR, allocate the transmission resource thatbelongs to the non-first resource to the service data;

the processor 842 is configured to: when the QoS information does notinclude the GBR, and the first resource is available, allocate thetransmission resource that belongs to the first resource to the servicedata; or

the processor 842 is configured to: when the QoS information does notinclude the GBR but includes the ARP and the QCI, if a priorityindicated by the ARP is less than a second priority and a delayindicated by the QCI is less than a third threshold, preferably allocatethe transmission resource that belongs to the non-first resource to theservice data.

In a more preferred embodiment based on what is provided in FIG. 8,

the transmitter 844 is configured to: when the transmission resourceallocated by the processor 842 to the service data includes thetransmission resource that belongs to the non-first resource, send, byusing an LTE carrier in a licensed spectrum, data corresponding to thetransmission resource that belongs to the non-first resource in theservice data to a terminal;

the transmitter 844 is configured to: when the transmission resourceallocated by the processor 842 to the service data includes thetransmission resource that belongs to the first resource, and the firstresource is the LTE carrier in the unlicensed spectrum, send, by usingthe LTE carrier in the unlicensed spectrum, data corresponding to thetransmission resource that belongs to the first resource in the servicedata to a terminal;

the transmitter 844 is configured to: when the transmission resourceallocated by the processor 842 to the service data includes thetransmission resource that belongs to the first resource, and the firstresource is the transmission resource provided by the WLAN, send datacorresponding to the transmission resource that belongs to the firstresource in the service data to a wireless access point of the WLAN, sothat the wireless access point forwards the data to a terminal; or

the transmitter 844 is configured to: when the transmission resourceallocated by the processor 842 to the service data includes thetransmission resource that belongs to the first resource, and the firstresource is the transmission resource provided by the secondary eNodeB,instruct the secondary eNodeB to establish a bearer between thesecondary eNodeB and a terminal, and send data corresponding to thetransmission resource that belongs to the first resource in the servicedata to the secondary eNodeB, so that the secondary eNodeB forwards thedata to the terminal by using the established bearer.

In a more preferred embodiment based on what is provided in FIG. 8,

the receiver 846 is configured to receive the QoS information sent bythe core network device; or receive the QoS information forwarded by thecore network device by using a primary eNodeB.

In a more preferred embodiment based on what is provided in FIG. 8,

the processor 842 is further configured to collect the trafficstatistics information respectively corresponding to the transmissionresource that is used for transmitting the service data and belongs tothe first resource and/or the transmission resource that is used fortransmitting the service data and belongs to the non-first resource;

the transmitter 844 is further configured to report the trafficstatistics information to the core network device.

Referring to FIG. 9, FIG. 9 shows a method flowchart of a dataoffloading method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.This embodiment is described by using an example in which the dataoffloading method is applied to the core network device 102 and theprimary eNodeB 104 shown in FIG. 1A/FIG. 1B/FIG. 1C, or the core networkdevice 102 and the secondary eNodeB 108 shown in FIG. 2B/FIG. 2C. Themethod includes:

Step 901: A core network device determines an offloading inclinationindication of service data.

The offloading inclination indication is used to indicate a schedulinginclination of the service data on a first resource, and the firstresource includes an LTE carrier in an unlicensed spectrum, atransmission resource provided by a WLAN, or a transmission resourceprovided by a secondary eNodeB.

Step 902: The core network device sends the offloading inclinationindication of the service data to an access network device.

Step 903: The access network device receives the offloading inclinationindication of the service data.

Step 904: The access network device allocates, according to theoffloading inclination indication, a transmission resource used fortransmitting the service data.

Step 905: The access network device transmits the service data by usingthe allocated transmission resource.

In conclusion, according to the data offloading method provided in thisembodiment, an access network device receives an offloading inclinationindication of service data from a core network device; allocates,according to the offloading inclination indication, a transmissionresource used for transmitting the service data; and transmits theservice data by using the allocated transmission resource, whichresolves a problem that QoS in a transmission process cannot be ensuredwhen data is offloaded by using a first resource such as an unlicensedspectrum, a transmission resource provided by a WLAN, or a transmissionresource provided by a secondary eNodeB, and achieves an effect that theQoS in the transmission process can be ensured even if the data isoffloaded by using the first resource such as the unlicensed spectrum,the transmission resource provided by the WLAN, or the transmissionresource provided by the secondary eNodeB.

Referring to FIG. 10, FIG. 10 shows a method flowchart of a dataoffloading method according to another embodiment of the presentdisclosure. This embodiment is described by using an example in whichthe data offloading method is applied to the core network device 102 andthe primary eNodeB 104 shown in FIG. 1A/FIG. 1B/FIG. 1C, or the corenetwork device 102 and the secondary eNodeB 108 shown in FIG. 2B/FIG.2C. The method includes:

Step 1001: A core network device acquires QoS information of servicedata.

The QoS information includes but is not limited to:

a QCI (QoS Class Identifier),

a GBR (Guaranteed Bit Rate),

an AMBR (Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate), and

an ARP (allocation/retention priority).

Step 1002: The core network device generates an offloading inclinationindication of the service data according to the QoS information.

The offloading inclination indication is used to indicate a schedulinginclination of the service data on a first resource, and the firstresource includes an LTE carrier in an unlicensed spectrum, atransmission resource provided by a WLAN, or a transmission resourceprovided by a secondary eNodeB.

When the QoS information includes the AMBR, the ARP, and the QCI, if arate indicated by the AMBR is greater than a first threshold, a priorityindicated by the ARP is less than a first priority, and a delayindicated by the QCI is greater than a second threshold, the corenetwork device generates an offloading inclination indication used toinstruct to preferably perform scheduling on the first resource.

When the QoS information includes the GBR, the core network devicegenerates an offloading inclination indication used to instruct toprohibit scheduling on the first resource.

When the QoS information does not include the GBR, the core networkdevice generates an offloading inclination indication used to instructto allow scheduling on the first resource.

When the QoS information does not include the GBR but includes the ARPand the QCI, if a priority indicated by the ARP is less than a secondpriority and a delay indicated by the QCI is less than a thirdthreshold, the core network device generates an offloading inclinationindication used to instruct to preferably perform scheduling on anon-first resource.

It should be noted that according to different QoS information, aspecific manner of conditions according to which the foregoing fouroffloading inclination indications are generated is not limited in thisstep. In different embodiments or during implementation performed bydifferent persons skilled in the art, the foregoing conditions may bedifferent.

Step 1003: The core network device sends the offloading inclinationindication of the service data to an access network device.

The core network device sends the offloading inclination indication ofthe service data to the access network device by carrying the offloadinginclination indication in a specific QoS class identifier QCI value. Thespecific QoS class identifier QCI value may be a newly-added QCI value.

When the access network device is the primary eNodeB shown in the FIG. 1series, the core network device sends the offloading inclinationindication to the primary eNodeB. When the access network device is thesecondary eNodeB shown in the FIG. 2 series, the core network deviceforwards the offloading inclination indication to the secondary eNodeBby using a primary eNodeB. That is, the core network device first sendsthe offloading inclination indication to the primary eNodeB, and thenthe primary eNodeB forwards the offloading inclination indication to thesecondary eNodeB.

Step 1004: The access network device receives the offloading inclinationindication of the service data.

When the access network device is the primary eNodeB shown in the FIG. 1series, the primary eNodeB receives the offloading inclinationindication sent by the core network device. When the access networkdevice is the secondary eNodeB shown in the FIG. 2 series, the secondaryeNodeB receives the offloading inclination indication forwarded by thecore network device by using the primary eNodeB.

In another possible implementation manner, the core network device maydirectly send the QoS information of the service data to the primaryeNodeB, the primary eNodeB generates the offloading inclinationindication according to the QoS information of the service data, andthen the primary eNodeB sends the offloading inclination indication tothe secondary eNodeB. In this case, the secondary eNodeB receives theoffloading inclination indication sent by the primary eNodeB, where theoffloading inclination indication is generated by the primary eNodeBaccording to the QoS information of the service data after the primaryeNodeB receives the QoS information that is of the service data and issent by the core network device.

Step 1005: The access network device allocates, according to theoffloading inclination indication, a transmission resource used fortransmitting the service data.

The offloading inclination indication includes: prohibiting schedulingon the first resource; or allowing scheduling on the first resource; orpreferably performing scheduling on the first resource; or preferablyperforming scheduling on the non-first resource.

When the offloading inclination indication is used to instruct toprohibit scheduling on the first resource, the access network deviceallocates a transmission resource that belongs to the non-first resourceto the service data.

When the offloading inclination indication is used to instruct topreferably perform scheduling on the first resource, the access networkdevice preferably allocates a transmission resource that belongs to thefirst resource to the service data.

When the offloading inclination indication is used to instruct to allowscheduling on the first resource, and the first resource is available, atransmission resource that belongs to the first resource is allocated tothe service data.

When the offloading inclination indication is used to instruct topreferably perform scheduling on the non-first resource, the accessnetwork device preferably allocates a transmission resource that belongsto the non-first resource to the service data.

Step 1006: The access network device transmits the service data by usingthe allocated transmission resource.

When the transmission resource allocated to the service data includesthe transmission resource that belongs to the non-first resource, theaccess network device sends, by using an LTE carrier in a licensedspectrum, data corresponding to the transmission resource that belongsto the non-first resource in the service data to a terminal.

When the transmission resource allocated to the service data includesthe transmission resource that belongs to the first resource, and thefirst resource is the LTE carrier in the unlicensed spectrum, the accessnetwork device sends, by using the LTE carrier in the unlicensedspectrum, data corresponding to the transmission resource that belongsto the first resource in the service data to a terminal.

When the transmission resource allocated to the service data includesthe transmission resource that belongs to the first resource, and thefirst resource is the transmission resource provided by the WLAN, theaccess network device sends data corresponding to the transmissionresource that belongs to the first resource in the service data to awireless access point of the WLAN, so that the wireless access pointforwards the data to a terminal.

When the transmission resource allocated to the service data includesthe transmission resource that belongs to the first resource, and thefirst resource is the transmission resource provided by the secondaryeNodeB, the access network device (the primary eNodeB) instructs thesecondary eNodeB to establish a bearer between the secondary eNodeB anda terminal, and sends data corresponding to the transmission resourcethat belongs to the first resource in the service data to the secondaryeNodeB, so that the secondary eNodeB forwards the data to the terminalby using the established bearer.

It should be additionally noted that, if the service data furtherincludes uplink service data, after the offloading inclinationindication of the service data is received, the method further includes:

sending, by the access network device when the offloading inclinationindication is an uplink-downlink shared offloading inclinationindication, the offloading inclination indication to the terminal, sothat the terminal determines, according to the offloading inclinationindication, a transmission resource used for transmitting the uplinkservice data, and transmits the uplink service data according to thedetermined transmission resource used for transmitting the uplinkservice data; or

sending, by the access network device when the offloading inclinationindication includes a separate uplink offloading inclination indication,the uplink offloading inclination indication in the offloadinginclination indication to the terminal, so that the terminal determines,according to the uplink offloading inclination indication, atransmission resource used for transmitting the uplink service data, andtransmits the uplink service data according to the determinedtransmission resource used for transmitting the uplink service data.

Certainly, in a scenario in which the service data includes only theuplink service data, the access network device may send only theoffloading inclination indication to the terminal.

Step 1007: The access network device collects traffic statisticsinformation respectively corresponding to a transmission resource thatis used for transmitting the service data and belongs to a firstresource and/or a transmission resource that is used for transmittingthe service data and belongs to a non-first resource.

The traffic statistics information may be a ratio of trafficcorresponding to the transmission resource that belongs to the firstresource in total traffic; or the traffic statistics information may bea ratio of traffic corresponding to the transmission resource thatbelongs to the non-first resource in total traffic; or the trafficstatistics information may be a ratio of traffic corresponding to thetransmission resource that belongs to the first resource to trafficcorresponding to the transmission resource that belongs to the non-firstresource. As long as the traffic statistics information can indicate atraffic statistics result, a specific form of the traffic statisticsinformation is not limited.

Step 1008: The access network device reports the traffic statisticsinformation to the core network device.

When the access network device is the primary eNodeB shown in the FIG. 1series, the access network device directly reports the trafficstatistics information to the core network device. When the accessnetwork device is the secondary eNodeB shown in the FIG. 2 series, theaccess network device reports the traffic statistics information to thecore network device by using a primary eNodeB.

Step 1009: The core network device receives the traffic statisticsinformation fed back by the access network device.

The traffic statistics information is fed back by the access networkdevice after collecting traffic respectively corresponding to thetransmission resource that is used for transmitting the service data andbelongs to the first resource and/or the transmission resource that isused for transmitting the service data and belongs to the non-firstresource.

When the access network device is the primary eNodeB shown in the FIG. 1series, the core network device receives the traffic statisticsinformation directly reported by the primary eNodeB. When the accessnetwork device is the secondary eNodeB shown in the FIG. 2 series, thecore network device receives the traffic statistics information reportedby the secondary eNodeB by using the primary eNodeB.

Step 1010: The core network device sends the traffic statisticsinformation to a charging network element.

Because the traffic statistics information may be used for multiplepurposes such as charging and statistics collection of transmissionresource use, how the core network device uses the traffic statisticsinformation is not specifically limited. For example, the trafficstatistics information is used for charging. When the core networkdevice is a mobility management entity (MME), the MME may send thetraffic statistics information to the charging network element, so thatthe charging network element performs, according to the trafficstatistics information, differential charging on the transmissionresource that belongs to the first resource and/or the transmissionresource that belongs to the non-first resource.

In conclusion, according to the data offloading method provided in thisembodiment, an access network device receives an offloading inclinationindication of service data from a core network device; allocates,according to the offloading inclination indication, a transmissionresource used for transmitting the service data;

and transmits the service data by using the allocated transmissionresource, which resolves a problem that QoS in a transmission processcannot be ensured when data is offloaded by using a first resource suchas an unlicensed spectrum, a transmission resource provided by a WLAN,or a transmission resource provided by a secondary eNodeB, and achievesan effect that the QoS in the transmission process can be ensured evenif the data is offloaded by using the first resource such as theunlicensed spectrum, the transmission resource provided by the WLAN, orthe transmission resource provided by the secondary eNodeB.

According to the data offloading method provided in this embodiment, thecore network device further generates the offloading inclinationindication according to QoS information, which can effectively ensurethe QoS of the service data. The offloading inclination indication isfurther sent to a terminal, so that the QoS is ensured when the servicedata includes uplink service data. The offloading inclination indicationis further carried by using a specific QoS class identifier (QCI) value,which reduces signal interaction between the core network device and theaccess network device, and reduces a demand for control resources. Theaccess network device further reports traffic statistics information tothe core network device, which helps implement an effect of differentialcharging or other statistics collection on the first resource and anon-first resource.

It should be noted that the foregoing step 1001, step 1002, step 1003,step 1009, and step 1010 may be separately implemented to form the dataoffloading method on a core network device side, and the foregoing step1004, step 1005, step 1006, step 1007, and step 1008 may be separatelyimplemented to form the data offloading method on an access networkdevice side.

Referring to FIG. 11, FIG. 11 shows a method flowchart of a dataoffloading method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.This embodiment is described by using an example in which the dataoffloading method is applied to the core network device 102 and theprimary eNodeB 104 shown in FIG. 1A/FIG. 1B/FIG. 1C, or the core networkdevice 102 and the secondary eNodeB 108 shown in FIG. 2B/FIG. 2C. Themethod includes:

Step 1101: A core network device sends QoS information of service datato an access network device.

Step 1102: The access network device receives the QoS information of theservice data.

Step 1103: The access network device allocates, according to the QoSinformation, a transmission resource used for transmitting the servicedata.

The transmission resource includes a transmission resource that belongsto a first resource and a transmission resource that belongs to anon-first resource, and the first resource includes an LTE carrier in anunlicensed spectrum, a transmission resource provided by a WLAN, or atransmission resource provided by a secondary eNodeB.

Step 1104: The access network device transmits the service data by usingthe allocated transmission resource.

In conclusion, according to the data offloading method provided in thisembodiment, an access network device receives QoS information from acore network device; allocates, according to the QoS information, atransmission resource used for transmitting service data; and transmitsthe service data by using the allocated transmission resource, whichresolves a problem that QoS in a transmission process cannot be ensuredwhen data is offloaded by using a first resource such as an unlicensedspectrum, a transmission resource provided by a WLAN, or a transmissionresource provided by a secondary eNodeB, and achieves an effect that theQoS in the transmission process can be ensured even if the data isoffloaded by using the first resource such as the unlicensed spectrum,the transmission resource provided by the WLAN, or the transmissionresource provided by the secondary eNodeB.

Referring to FIG. 12, FIG. 12 shows a method flowchart of a dataoffloading method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.This embodiment is described by using an example in which the dataoffloading method is applied to the core network device 102 and theprimary eNodeB 104 shown in FIG. 1A/FIG. 1B/FIG. 1C, or the core networkdevice 102 and the secondary eNodeB 108 shown in FIG. 2B/FIG. 2C. Themethod includes:

Step 1201: A core network device sends QoS information of service datato an access network device.

The QoS information includes but is not limited to:

a QCI (QoS Class Identifier),

a GBR (Guaranteed Bit Rate),

an AMBR (Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate), and

an ARP (allocation/retention priority).

When the access network device is a primary eNodeB, the core networkdevice directly sends the QoS information to the access network device.When the access network device is a secondary eNodeB, the core networkdevice forwards the QoS information to the access network device byusing a primary eNodeB.

Step 1202: The access network device receives the QoS information of theservice data.

When the access network device is a primary eNodeB, the access networkdevice receives the QoS information directly sent by the core networkdevice. When the access network device is a secondary eNodeB, the accessnetwork device receives the QoS information forwarded by the corenetwork device by using the primary eNodeB.

Step 1203: The access network device allocates, according to the QoSinformation, a transmission resource used for transmitting the servicedata.

The transmission resource includes a transmission resource that belongsto a first resource and a transmission resource that belongs to anon-first resource, and the first resource includes an LTE carrier in anunlicensed spectrum, a transmission resource provided by a WLAN, or atransmission resource provided by a secondary eNodeB.

When the QoS information includes the AMBR, the ARP, and the QCI, if arate indicated by the AMBR is greater than a first threshold, a priorityindicated by the ARP is less than a first priority, and a delayindicated by the QCI is greater than a second threshold, thetransmission resource that belongs to the first resource is preferablyallocated to the service data.

When the QoS information includes the GBR, the transmission resourcethat belongs to the non-first resource is allocated to the service data.

When the QoS information does not include the GBR, and the firstresource is available, the transmission resource that belongs to thefirst resource is allocated to the service data.

When the QoS information does not include the GBR but includes the ARPand the QCI, if a priority indicated by the ARP is less than a secondpriority and a delay indicated by the QCI is less than a thirdthreshold, the transmission resource that belongs to the non-firstresource is preferably allocated to the service data.

It should be noted that according to different QoS information, aspecific manner of a condition according to which the transmissionresource is allocated is not limited in this step. In differentembodiments or during implementation performed by different personsskilled in the art, the foregoing condition may vary. However, if theservice data includes uplink service data, the foregoing offloadinginclination indication may be an uplink-downlink shared offloadinginclination indication, or may include a downlink offloading inclinationindication dedicated to a downlink and/or an uplink offloadinginclination indication dedicated to an uplink.

Step 1204: The access network device transmits the service data by usingthe allocated transmission resource.

When the transmission resource allocated to the service data includesthe transmission resource that belongs to the non-first resource, theaccess network device sends, by using an LTE carrier in a licensedspectrum, data corresponding to the transmission resource that belongsto the non-first resource in the service data to a terminal.

When the transmission resource allocated to the service data includesthe transmission resource that belongs to the first resource, and thefirst resource is the LTE carrier in the unlicensed spectrum, the accessnetwork device sends, by using the

LTE carrier in the unlicensed spectrum, data corresponding to thetransmission resource that belongs to the first resource in the servicedata to a terminal.

When the transmission resource allocated to the service data includesthe transmission resource that belongs to the first resource, and thefirst resource is the transmission resource provided by the WLAN, theaccess network device sends data corresponding to the transmissionresource that belongs to the first resource in the service data to awireless access point of the WLAN, so that the wireless access pointforwards the data to a terminal.

When the transmission resource allocated to the service data includesthe transmission resource that belongs to the first resource, and thefirst resource is the transmission resource provided by the secondaryeNodeB, the access network device (the primary eNodeB) instructs thesecondary eNodeB to establish a bearer between the secondary eNodeB anda terminal, and sends data corresponding to the transmission resourcethat belongs to the first resource in the service data to the secondaryeNodeB, so that the secondary eNodeB forwards the data to the terminalby using the established bearer.

Step 1205: The access network device collects traffic statisticsinformation respectively corresponding to a transmission resource thatis used for transmitting the service data and belongs to a firstresource and/or a transmission resource that is used for transmittingthe service data and belongs to a non-first resource.

The traffic statistics information may be a ratio of trafficcorresponding to the transmission resource that belongs to the firstresource in total traffic; or the traffic statistics information may bea ratio of traffic corresponding to the transmission resource thatbelongs to the non-first resource in total traffic; or the trafficstatistics information may be a ratio of traffic corresponding to thetransmission resource that belongs to the first resource to trafficcorresponding to the transmission resource that belongs to the non-firstresource. As long as the traffic statistics information can indicate atraffic statistics result, a specific form of the traffic statisticsinformation is not limited.

Step 1206: The access network device reports the traffic statisticsinformation to the core network device.

When the access network device is the primary eNodeB shown in the FIG. 1series, the access network device directly reports the trafficstatistics information to the core network device. When the accessnetwork device is the secondary eNodeB shown in the FIG. 2 series, theaccess network device reports the traffic statistics information to thecore network device by using a primary eNodeB.

Step 1207: The core network device receives the traffic statisticsinformation fed back by the access network device.

The traffic statistics information is fed back by the access networkdevice after collecting traffic respectively corresponding to thetransmission resource that is used for transmitting the service data andbelongs to the first resource and/or the transmission resource that isused for transmitting the service data and belongs to the non-firstresource.

When the access network device is the primary eNodeB shown in the FIG. 1series, the core network device receives the traffic statisticsinformation directly reported by the primary eNodeB. When the accessnetwork device is the secondary eNodeB shown in the FIG. 2 series, thecore network device receives the traffic statistics information reportedby the secondary eNodeB by using the primary eNodeB.

Step 1208: The core network device sends the traffic statisticsinformation to a charging network element.

Because the traffic statistics information may be used for multiplepurposes such as charging and statistics collection of transmissionresource use, how the core network device uses the traffic statisticsinformation is not specifically limited. For example, the trafficstatistics information is used for charging. When the core networkdevice is a mobility management entity (MME), the MME may send thetraffic statistics information to the charging network element, so thatthe charging network element performs, according to the trafficstatistics information, differential charging on the transmissionresource that belongs to the first resource and/or the transmissionresource that belongs to the non-first resource.

In conclusion, according to the data offloading method provided in thisembodiment, an access network device receives an offloading inclinationindication of service data from a core network device; allocates,according to the offloading inclination indication, a transmissionresource used for transmitting the service data; and transmits theservice data by using the allocated transmission resource, whichresolves a problem that QoS in a transmission process cannot be ensuredwhen data is offloaded by using a first resource such as an unlicensedspectrum, a transmission resource provided by a WLAN, or a transmissionresource provided by a secondary eNodeB, and achieves an effect that theQoS in the transmission process can be ensured even if the data isoffloaded by using the first resource such as the unlicensed spectrum,the transmission resource provided by the WLAN, or the transmissionresource provided by the secondary eNodeB.

According to the data offloading method provided in this embodiment, theoffloading inclination indication is further carried by using a specificQoS class identifier (QCI) value, which reduces signal interactionbetween the core network device and the access network device, andreduces a demand for control resources. The access network devicefurther reports traffic statistics information to the core networkdevice, which helps implement an effect of differential charging orother statistics collection on the first resource and a non-firstresource.

A person of ordinary skill in the art may understand that all or some ofthe steps of the embodiments may be implemented by hardware or a programinstructing related hardware. The program may be stored in acomputer-readable storage medium.

The storage medium may include a read-only memory, a magnetic disk, oran optical disc.

The foregoing descriptions are merely exemplary embodiments of thepresent disclosure, but are not intended to limit the presentdisclosure. Any modification, equivalent replacement, and improvementmade without departing from the spirit and principle of the presentdisclosure shall fall within the protection scope of the presentdisclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A data offloading method, wherein the methodcomprises: receiving quality of service (QoS) information of servicedata; allocating, according to the QoS information, a transmissionresource used for transmitting the service data, wherein thetransmission resource comprises a transmission resource that belongs toa first resource and a transmission resource that belongs to a non-firstresource, and the first resource comprises a long term evolution (LTE)carrier in an unlicensed spectrum, a transmission resource provided by awireless local area network (WLAN), or a transmission resource providedby a secondary eNodeB; and sending an offloading inclination indicationof uplink service data to a terminal.
 2. The method according to claim1, wherein the method further comprising: obtaining traffic statisticsinformation respectively corresponding to the transmission resource thatis used for transmitting the service data and belongs to the firstresource and/or the transmission resource that is used for transmittingthe service data and belongs to the non-first resource; and sending thetraffic statistics information to a core network device.
 3. The methodaccording to claim 2, wherein the method further comprises: sending thetraffic statistics information to the core network device through aprimary base station.
 4. A method, comprises: receiving an offloadinginclination indication of service data sent by an access network device;determining a transmission resource used for transmitting the servicedata according to the offloading inclination indication; wherein theoffloading inclination indication comprises: prohibiting transmission ona first resource; or allowing transmission on a first resource; orpreferably transmission scheduling on a first resource; or preferablytransmission scheduling on a non-first resource. wherein the firstresource comprises a carrier in a spectrum, a transmission resourceprovided by a wireless local area network (WLAN), or a transmissionresource provided by a secondary eNodeB.
 5. The method according toclaim 4, wherein the spectrum is an unlicensed spectrum.
 6. The methodaccording to claim 4, wherein the service data is uplink service data.7. An apparatus, comprising: one or more processors, and anon-transitory storage medium configure to store program instructions;wherein, when executed by the one or more processors, the instructionscause the apparatus to perform: receiving quality of service (QoS)information of service data; allocating, according to the QoSinformation, a transmission resource used for transmitting the servicedata, wherein the transmission resource comprises a transmissionresource that belongs to a first resource and a transmission resourcethat belongs to a non-first resource, and the first resource comprises along term evolution (LTE) carrier in an unlicensed spectrum, atransmission resource provided by a wireless local area network (WLAN),or a transmission resource provided by a secondary eNodeB; and sendingan offloading inclination indication of uplink service data to aterminal.
 8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein theinstructions cause the apparatus further to perform: obtaining trafficstatistics information respectively corresponding to the transmissionresource that is used for transmitting the service data and belongs tothe first resource and/or the transmission resource that is used fortransmitting the service data and belongs to the non-first resource; andsending the traffic statistics information to a core network device. 9.The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the instructions furthercause the apparatus to perform: sending the traffic statisticsinformation to the core network device through a primary base station.10. An apparatus, comprising: one or more processors, and anon-transitory storage medium configure to store program instructions;wherein, when executed by the one or more processors, the instructionscause the apparatus to perform: receiving an offloading inclinationindication of service data sent by an access network device; determininga transmission resource used for transmitting the service data accordingto the offloading inclination indication; wherein the offloadinginclination indication comprises: prohibiting transmission on a firstresource; or allowing transmission on a first resource; or preferablytransmission scheduling on a first resource; or preferably transmissionscheduling on a non-first resource. wherein the first resource comprisesa carrier in a spectrum, a transmission resource provided by a wirelesslocal area network (WLAN), or a transmission resource provided by asecondary eNodeB.
 11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein thespectrum is an unlicensed spectrum.
 12. The apparatus according to claim10, wherein the service data is uplink service data.